Plenary Speakers

The Future of Philanthropy

Douglas F. KridlerPresident and CEO, Columbus Foundation

TUESDAY • JUNE 19 • 2012
11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

As president and CEO of The Columbus Foundation, the ninth largest community foundation in the United States, Doug helps manage more than $1 billion in assets. Since the foundation’s inception, grants from donors have totaled over $1.2 billion, primarily benefiting central Ohio. During this plenary session, he will share his insights about current trends in philanthropy and donor giving. He will also present a visition of what’s ahead for non-profits, the arts, and public gardens.

About the Speaker:

Douglas F. Kridler currently serves as president and CEO of The Columbus Foundation which is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to joining the Foundation in February 2002, Kridler served as president of Columbus-based non-profit CAPA, which operates performing arts centers in Columbus, Chicago, and New Haven. Kridler is an independent director of Nationwide Mutual Funds. In October 2011, he was named a Columbus Legend by the city’s Martin Luther King Arts Complex. He is a past chairman of the International Society for the Performing Arts. Kridler earned a master’s degree from the University of Utah and a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Going Beyond Your Garden's Gates

Adrian BloomChairman, Blooms Nurseries Ltd.

WEDNESDAY • JUNE 20 • 2012
8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Adrian Bloom has travelled the world exploring gardens and arboreta in search of new plants. Bloom hails from Norfolk, England, where his home sits on seventeen acres known as Bressingham Gardens and has over 7,500 species and cultivars of plants on display and is host to 80,000 visitors a year. With a keen interest in inspiring the home gardener, Bloom believes public gardens have a larger role to play beyond getting visitors through their garden gates. Following the worldwide success of Blooms of Bressingham, Adrian will share his ideas about how public gardens can collaborate with the nursery industry as a new path in reaching our communities.

About the Speaker:

Adrian Bloom is a lifelong gardener and past owner of the world-renowned Blooms of Bressingham nursery in England. Now chairman of the family business Blooms Nurseries Ltd., he is also the creator of Foggy Bottom and other gardens at Bressingham and writes, photographs, and lectures about plants and gardening internationally. He has been a television presenter on shows including BBC Gardeners’ World and The Victory Garden for WGBH in the United States. In 1986, he was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour by the Royal Horticultural Society and, in 2002, the George Robert White Medal of Honor from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Innovating New Paths

The world’s population has doubled over the past fifty years, putting enormous strain on the earth’s ecosystem. Add to that new expectations for population health, and there is significant demand for a sustained effort in research and development to ensure a sustainable future to protect our fragile planet. This creates opportunities for public gardens. Learn from Battelle Memorial Institute’s agricultural, environmental, and healthcare breakthroughs that can be applied to the challenges facing public gardens and their role in our complex ecosystem. This session will also explore the innovation process and teach public garden leaders how to forge new paths forward.

About the Speaker:

The leader for Battelle’s Health & Life Sciences Global Business, a member of the Executive Committee, and an officer of the Institute, Barbara is accountable for Battelle’s portfolio of businesses and capabilities that support Battelle’s position in the dynamic industries that comprise the health sciences and life sciences worldwide. She and her team support clients within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices, and crop sciences industries as well as the significant position that Battelle enjoys with the Department of Health and Human Services agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Environment Health Sciences.